An interesting report in Agri-News focuses illustrates the digital divide by focusing on rural Minnesota where the household adoption rate is 39.4 percent, compared to the metro rate of 57 percent in the state.An interesting report in Agri-News focuses illustrates the digital divide by focusing on rural Minnesota where the household adoption rate is 39.4 percent, compared to the metro rate of 57 percent in the state.
The story cites the 2006 Minnesota Internet Study from the Center for Rural Policy and Development which found that 49 percent of all households in the state have broadband Internet at home, compared to 37 percent in 2005.
The story goes on to provide a good summary of reasons that contribute to the slow adoption rate in rural America‚Äö?Ñ?Ælargely, that operators have been slow to provide service there.
Jack Geller, president of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, noted that there is no universal service requirement that mandates broadband deployments to rural areas. “Therefore supply and demand determines where Internet services are provided,” he said. “A lack of technology puts rural residents at a disadvantage, he said, and that disadvantage has widened as more services have been provided online.”
Click here to read the Agri-News story.
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